With the runaway success of titles like Escape from Tarkov, the extraction genre is currently seeing a deluge of new contenders. The fundamental loop is simple enough: infiltrate a hostile zone, scavenge for loot, and make it out in one piece. You are balancing PvE against waves of monsters while constantly looking over your shoulder for other players in a ruthless PvP environment. It is that tense, high-stakes puzzle of survival that keeps everyone hooked.

Most extraction games tend to cling to either the modern tactical shooter tropes of Tarkov or the medieval fantasy trappings seen in Dark and Darker. However, there is a new project attempting a rather curious mash-up. Developed by One Way Ticket Studio, a subsidiary of Wemade Max, Midnight Walkers is looking to stir the pot by pairing the extraction loop with a zombie-infested setting and a heavy emphasis on visceral melee combat.

Midnight Walkers is aiming for a release later this year, following one final test during the Steam Next Fest in October. In preparation for this, the team brought a playable demo to Gamescom, held in the heart of Europe—the extraction genre's primary stronghold—to gather direct feedback from the players. I took the opportunity to dive into the demo myself to see what the fuss is about.

The game is set decades after the initial zombie outbreak. It is a bleak world where people have long since given up on the old comforts, resorting to crafting makeshift weapons from whatever scrap they can find. The primary stage is a confined, derelict skyscraper. You must navigate the floors to scavenge supplies, fend off threats, and ultimately locate an extraction pod to escape the building.

The elevator, in particular, becomes a fascinating focal point. It is your primary means of vertical traversal, but it is also a potential death trap. Imagine waiting for the doors to slide open, only to be met by an armed opponent, or the frantic terror of trying to seal the doors while a zombie or another player tries to force their way in. It is far more than just a lift; it is a claustrophobic battlefield.

To keep the pace from dragging, toxic gas eventually floods specific floors, sealing them off as the match progresses. This naturally funnels players toward a common area, forcing more frequent and desperate encounters as the playable space shrinks. You can use extraction pods as soon as you find them, but you can also secure an activation key and carry it with you to trigger a pod elsewhere. This turns the extraction mechanic itself into a strategic asset.

What impressed me was how effectively the game utilizes the building and elevator layout. The true beauty of an extraction game lies in that omnipresent fear that someone, somewhere, is tracking your every move. By forcing players into tighter spaces via the shrinking floor mechanics, the developers have created a design that naturally intensifies the action without relying on arbitrary artificial loops.

The other defining feature is the melee-centric combat. Each character class has its own equipment quirks; in the demo, we saw four distinct types, ranging from the slow, bone-crushing power of a hammer and axe combo to the agile, rapid-strike precision of daggers and katanas.

I spent most of my time with the melee weapons. Using the hammer is a particularly demanding experience—it is a 'high risk, high reward' tool that requires perfect timing. It hits like a truck, but if you miss, the recovery animation leaves you wide open. It is even long enough to catch on shelves or environmental geometry if you swing it carelessly.

Because of this, you find yourself obsessively calculating the distance between yourself and your target. You are constantly looking for that perfect 'kill angle,' aiming for a precise strike to the head. The zombies themselves are no pushovers; they are numerous and aggressive, and a few mistimed swings will end your run. It is punishing, but successfully landing that perfect strike provides an incredible sense of catharsis.

While ranged weapons like guns and bows do exist, do not expect a standard shooter experience. A shotgun, for example, requires a manual reload after every single shot, and ammunition is so precious that wasting a shell feels like a genuine tragedy. Even with a firearm, you are still looking for that singular, perfect window to strike.

Midnight Walkers is betting big on the combination of zombies, melee combat, and its tight, vertical setting to distinguish itself from the crowded market. Song Kwang-ho, the representative of One Way Ticket Studio, has openly shared that they have clocked over 1,000 hours in Tarkov, and they are clearly looking to push the boundaries of the genre. With a release slated for the end of the year, it is definitely one to keep on your radar.